My daughter is an exclusively breastfed baby.

Ever since she was born, she has received nourishment straight from the boob. Not for the lack of trying, we’ve tried to get her to take milk from the bottle, but she has stubbornly insisted to go boob or go hungry.

Consequently, I had to donate all the breast milk that I express. 

Sure, I can pump and dump, but they’re not called liquid gold for nothing. It would be a pity for all the breast milk to go to waste. Hence, I’m always in the lookout at mommy groups to see which moms are in need.

And they’ve been many.

Many mothers simply don’t have enough milk. They just don’t. Despite eating all the malunggay tablets and medicine, they sadly cannot provide enough milk for their children.

Other mothers are forced to pump and dump when they get sick. If they’re under medication, they have to feed their child another source of breastmilk.

Other mothers simply insist on feeding their child breastmilk. They refuse formula milk of any kind, and have a whole group of mothers who have milk to spare. Who can blame them anyway? Breastmilk is still the best.

Personally, I’ve just been very lucky to have a lot of milk. 

Yes, I’ve eaten malunggay tablets and subscribed to lactation cookies when I just gave birth, but honestly, I think I’m just very lucky that I can produce enough milk for my baby daughter and still have a lot of milk to spare for donation.

My schedule is this: In the morning when I wake up, I pump at around 9:30am-10:00am once. I get around 2.5 to 5.0 oz depending on how much my baby has fed during the night. At 5pm or so, I pump once again. I get around 6 to 8.5 oz given the long period where my baby does not feed.

So on a given day, I get a minimum of 10 oz. to store. Multiply this on a 30-day basis, I have around 300 oz. more or less to donate per month.

Now what am I going to do with 300 oz.? My refrigerator can only handle a specific number of bags, right?

So I donate.

And apparently, my baby and I have helped a lot of children. Because every time I donate, I record it on my daughter’s email address, now compiling all the donations we’ve done through the year, I was amazed that we reached 3000 oz.

Here are the complete list of breast milk donations I’ve done over the last 10 months. I’ve also recorded the mothers’ names but in lieu of this public blog, have chosen to not reveal this fact:

From May 26 to the Present, I’ve already donated 3,015.75 ounces to fellow mothers.

And I am still continuing to donate.

So how does it feel to be a mommy cow?

To be honest, I don’t feel accomplished or special. It’s just that every day, I will put out my Medela Pump in Style (PISA) pumper and do my thing. I do it before I get to work, and once while at work in the conference room.

Breastfeeding doesn’t hurt nor bother me. In fact, it’s as if I’m just typing this blog entry, except I’m close to the electrical socket.

My baby doesn’t seem to be bothered that she’s a breastmilk donor. Though I record how much I donate for posterity so she’ll know that even when she was young, she has already positively contributed to society.

There are no fanfares, or any awards.

Just me pumping, dumping my milk into bags, and then giving it away once my ref gets full.

What do I eat or drink?

Nothing. I just eat whatever I want, usually Ministop Fried Chicken or Jollibee Spaghetti, and pump away. And I guess, not being anxious about my milk supply helps me in getting enough milk supply for my baby.

In fact, she was obese when she was around 8-10 months old. Now, she’s thinner because she eats solid food and drink less of my milk. But it doesn’t change the way we live or act in any way.

So to all nursing mothers, don’t sweat breastfeeding. It only gets harder if you worry about it. Pump away!